MANCHESTER, England (AP) — The winner of the 2026 World Cup will receive $50 million from a $655 million prize pool, FIFA said Wednesday in announcing record financial rewards for teams in a tournament with ticket prices that have sparked outcries.
The champion's figure is up from $42 million won by Argentina in 2022 and $38 million gained by France in 2018 but less than half of what Chelsea earned for winning the much less-hyped Club World Cup this year.
The total prize fund for the World Cup, staged in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, is up 48.9% from the $440 million for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
The 2026 total will be nearly six times the $110 million in prize money for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. FIFA president Gianni Infantino in 2023 set a target of equal prize money for men and women at their next World Cups — the next women's tournament is scheduled for 2027 in Brazil.
The Club World Cup, controversially expanded from seven teams to 32 and shoehorned into the soccer calendar last summer, had a total prize fund of $1 billion. Chelsea won the top prize of up to $125 million for a tournament that faced fierce resistance from players and leagues and drew sparse crowds for some matches.
FIFA has a different distribution model for the national team and club tournaments, with the disparity in prize money reflecting factors such as clubs with higher wage costs than national teams.
Beyond prize money, further funds are put toward development of soccer globally.
Infantino said the World Cup will be “groundbreaking in terms of its financial contribution to the global football community.”
In Europe, the Champions League also has a much bigger top prize than the European Championship for national teams. The maximum winnings for last year's Euros were 28.5 million euros ($33.5 million). Real Madrid picked up around $154 million for winning the Champions League in the same year. Both competitions are run by European soccer’s governing body UEFA.
FIFA approved the prize money for the World Cup at a meeting of its council in Doha. In March it projected revenue for its current four-year cycle through 2026 at $13 billion, up from $7.5 billion for 2019-22.
Each of the 48 national federations at the expanded 2026 World Cup will receive $1.5 million for preparation costs and $9 million for participating in the group stage, the same as for the 2022 tournament.
Teams advancing to the new round of 32 get $11 million and those reaching the round of 16 receive $15 million. Nations reaching the quarterfinals are paid $19 million, the fourth-place team $27 million, the third-place team $29 million and the final loser $33 million.
Including participation fees, FIFA will distribute $727 million to the 48 federations.
Each federation decides what to pay its players. The French sports daily L’Equipe reported France players were in line for a bonus of $586,000 by their federation if they won the trophy in 2022. France was ultimately beaten by Argentina in the final.
The U.S. Soccer Federation’s 2022 collective bargaining agreements with the unions for its men’s and women’s national teams call for prize money for men in 2026 and women in 2027 to be pooled together, and 80% of the money to be distributed among the players.
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AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.
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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer